2024 Jan Wyatt Symposium
What is Work and Leisure About?
Travelers and tourists have long journeyed to Western North Carolina to enjoy cool summers and spectacular scenery. Over the last two centuries, tourism emerged as Cashiers' largest industry. Why? How has the industry affected the people who live and work in Cashiers? How has tourism shaped the culture of the Cashiers Valley? Learn the answers at Cashiers Historical Society's 2024 Jan Wyatt Symposium.
Work and Leisure: Tourism and the Making of Modern Cashiers is a day long exploration into the history of tourism in the Cashiers Valley. Morning events will be located at the Albert-Carlton Cashiers Community Library. A boxed lunch picnic and driving tour of historic Whiteside Cove will follow in the afternoon.
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What is the Jan Wyatt Symposium?
In 2005, Cashiers Historical Society presented the first Jan Wyatt Symposium. In the years since, the Historical Society continued its mission to preserve the history of Cashiers Valley through education by sponsoring an annual symposium. The featured topics ranged from historical figures to geological issues to cultural aspects of the region. Previous symposia highlighted traditional mountain music, heirloom gardens, and the Civil War in the Carolinas.
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The 2024 Jan Wyatt Symposium will be held at the Albert-Carlton Cashiers Community Library and historic Whiteside Cove. The day-long event will continue the Cashiers Historical Society tradition with presentations the history of tourism in the Cashiers Valley. A boxed lunch will be provided.
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For more information, contact:
Symposium Schedule
8:30 - 9:00: Check-In, Coffee, and Pastries
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9:00 - 9:45: Overview on the History of Tourism in Cashiers and Western North Carolina
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10:00 - 10:30: Modern Impacts of Tourism
Nick Breedlove of the Jackson County Tourism and Development Authority.
10:45 - 12:00: Roundtable Discussion
A roundtable discussion with Sandy Fugate, Linda Rogers, and Nancy Conkle Swan about working in tourism in the 1950s and 1960s at the Fairfield Inn, High Hampton, and a family gift shop. Moderated by Brett Stewart.
12:00: Leave for Whiteside Cove
The afternoon will consist of a boxed lunch picnic and driving tour of historic Whiteside Cove.
